Hair stylists and colorists who are looking to build a large, loyal client base should take a closer look at the findings of a BABTAC (babtac.com, British Association of Beauty Therapists and Cosmetology) survey of more than 2100 British women, aged 18-30, who said they would be more likely to cheat on their partner than their hairdresser.

A new babtac.com study of more than 2100 British women found that 26% of respondents said they were more likely to stray from their significant other than to visit someone other than to ‘cheat’ on their favorite hairdresser. They say that ,”a good man is hard to find.” But about half of the women surveyed said that it was easier to find a good romantic partner than it was to find a good hairdresser. Nine out of ten women in the survey said that they would remain loyal to a good hairstylist or colorist. These are the type of brand perceptions few organizations ever achieve, and results in a level of brand loyalty other businesses can only dream of!

For hairdressers who need salon marketing ideas to help with building their client base, generating salon client referrals or who are simply wondering why their clients aren’t coming back, it might be worth thinking about the traits that characterize long-term loyal stylist-client relationships to look for areas of improvement. Understanding what women want from their stylists can also help salon owners who are experiencing low client retention or wondering how to build a strong salon brand. I came up with a list of six traits that often characterize the relationships between clients and their stylists which might explain the extraordinarily high level of salon loyalty expressed by the women in the survey.

Salon Marketing Ideas: 6 Traits of Loyal Salon-Client Relationships

You listen attentively.

From consultations to confessions, hairdressers hear it all. They are entrusted with struggles, dreams and goals for the client’s hair and appearance, but that’s not all. They are often privy to the struggles, dreams and goals clients have in other areas of their lives as well. While a woman’s significant other might roll their eyes or change the subject or tune them out, you never do! Attentive listening — in and of itself — goes a long way to making a woman feel like she’s been truly heard, and that what she has to say matters.

You respond with empathy, not just sympathy.

No matter what a woman confesses to her hairstylist while she is in the chair, she doesn’t want your sympathy or pity, she wants your empathy. Responding with empathy sends the message that you genuinely understand, have been there yourself (or known others who have) and that, “we’re all in this together.”

You provide help without judgment.

Sooner or later you will have a client in the chair who made a mistake by cutting her own bangs or (gasp!) tried to save money by using box color at home, only to realize that she desperately needs your services. You don’t even flinch when she tells you that she saves money by trimming up her own kid’s hair at home, or shares about that time she used kool-aid© powder to tint her hair pink in college. Providing help, repair, restoration, correction and other services without judgment lets her know that she can relax. The rest of her life might be full of constant scrutiny and criticism; but when she’s in your chair, she’s safe!

You offer educated, no-obligation advice.

No one likes to be sold or pressured. Giving clients the benefit of your wisdom when it comes to salon retail products they should be using at home or add-on services that can improve the outcome of their services or condition of their hair without making it feel mandatory is an art, not a science. The more that you practice this skill, the better you will become at it. Clients will come to trust your recommendations and take you up on them, when they feel that your sole interest is in their well-being.

You love her friends.

We’ve all heard about relationships where someone’s significant other did not like their friends, and they were forced to relinquish or diminish time spent with those friends to be in the relationship. Not you; you believe that the more, the merrier! You love your client’s friends and having a three-way is just fine with you. So much so that you create events and special offers that allow them to enjoy your services with their friends and invite them to bring their friends to special exclusive parties and events. You also introduce social activities into the client experience, such as offering a glass of wine or a cup of coffee or introducing the clients who are sitting adjacent to one another.

They believe you have innate – and irreplaceable – talent and skills.

You make her look and feel good. So much so that she truly believes that you have innate talent and skills that make it too risky to leave, because she knows, deep down, that she will never get the benefit of your hairdressing skills anywhere else. She believes this, because you deliver a superior salon client experience and superior results, time and time again. She believes this, because when she first told you the style and color she wanted for her hair, you came up with a long term plan to get her there. She believes this, because you have an uncanny ability to make her feel like she looks 10 years younger and 10 pounds lighter, every time she leaves your salon (after all, that’s all I have ever asked from my own hairstylist!)

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Salon marketing ideas – by the hundreds – are available in 12 Months of Marketing for Salon and Spa and in the salon marketing calendars that I publish every year. The 2015 salon marketing calendar is an edition that can be used equally well by salon owners and independent salon professionals like salon suite franchise owners, booth renters, hairdressers, estheticians and more.